I would have to approach this carefully, it would be wrong for a hero to cause worry in a civilian. Then again the situation was worrying. I kept my voice calm and reassuring "No we have not encountered anybody else yet, can you tell us what happened? What did you see?"

"I, uh, I didn't see much of anything. I heard screams, yelling, and then I saw some laser fire and booked it back to my room. I heard some of the others coming back, but I don't know how many people made it... I heard people get dragged off... I ran into ol' Lockey on the way back, he seemed really serious... do you think they're okay?!"

Old Lockey seemed like an important person, I'd have to ask after Sproket answered Cobra's questions. Still I owed it to answer the terrified bot's questions "I don't know if they're okay Sproket, you're the only person we've met so far"

"Lockey's our head of security. He's a couple doors down from my quarters. He's kind of stuffy and his taste in movies is pretty lame, but he's kept us safe... so far..."

To Shard, he said, "I think... I think I saw some of them, actually. Not much, I was running away, but when I ran into Lockey I looked back to say sorry and there was someone there I didn't know. I didn't see them long, just for a second. They were big, and they looked like they meant business."

OOC: To be clear, you've been in Lockey's room before. The room you went in before this one belonged to Lochlan Keye. "Lockey" is both a way to shorten "Lochlan", and also what you get if you combine the first part of his first name and the whole part of his last name. Your characters don't have to realise this, of course.

~

GM IC: ??? - Bridge

"Keep it moving!" snapped a tall burly figure, clad in cloak and impressive hat, into a microphone. "Ye scurvy dogs drop just one of them crates and ye'll be walkin' the plank!"

On the screen before the figure, similarly rough-looking though less well-dressed criminals saluted and resumed their pace in checking the precious cargo. The figure turned back to the room's occupants. "Orroight, ye scallawags! Keep steady!"

"Yes, Cap'n," said the crewmate at the helm, pressing buttons and flipping switches like it was second nature. To the crewmate sitting beside her, she said, "Feels so good to stretch yer legs, innit?"

"I miss the Cap'n's ship," her companion agreed. "Hidin' in a cargo bay? Ain't right fer-"

"Shaddap, ya lily-livered scallywags," the captain snapped at the two, slamming fists on the tops of the consoles. "After this, we'll all have enough booty to last a lifetime! And then some! Now, keep on course! We have some business to attend to, mateys."

OOC: Eugh, I keep getting busy and tired out and sidetracked and forgetting to do things, sorry. I'm back again.

IC: Tony Sprocket - Being Led To Safety

"Huh?" Sprocket blinked, having been lost in thought. "Oh, uh, if you go up this corridor, the bridge is that way. But, um, are you sure you guys can take them? I mean, you're Heroes and all, but... I mean, I think there were a lot of them... maybe... or maybe it was just really loud...?"

~

IC: Timothy Gyro and XPlode - Haven't Checked On The Villains For A While

"Well," said XPlode, glancing between the villains. "I suppose we'd best start searching the place, eh? You can come along with me, Rotor."

"Uh, sure. Yeah." Gyro tried to mask his hesitation as he followed XPlode down the hallway.

I noticed Bliss's message the moment it arrived. Fortunately the dropship and Stormer were in sight. "Thank you for the information Tony, but don't worry about us, we're heroes we solve these problems for daily" I said, hopefully reassuring the bot, I spoke quickly because I really needed to get to Bliss. "Now there's the dropship and Stormer, explain what happened to him and he'll take care of you ... now if you'll excuse me I gotta run!" Not looking back I immediately set off to Bliss's location as fast as I could.

Stringer slowed and then stopped before cautiously poking his head around the corner.

IC: Gabriel Bliss - Still Hiding

Bliss saw Stringer's head come around the corner and he gave the Alpha Hero a thumbs up.

IC: Jimi Stringer - Let's Do It

He looked over at Flames.

"Okay, here's my plan: I'll lead, you come right behind. We'll give the guys in the next room a warning before we just go all gunzerk on them, but I want you and Bliss covering me just in case they try anything funny. If diplomacy wins, hey, so much the better for all of us, but I don't want to take too many chances here.

You ready?"

0

"It doesn't matter how big your first bite is. It matters how many bites you take." -Mool the Wanderer

Tony nodded and scampered to Stormer. Shyly, he cleared his throat. "Um, one of the other Heroes said to tell you what happened...?"

~

IC: Two Thugs

The Heroes would find themselves face to face with two pirates. One, the taller of the two, had two pairs of arms folded across their chest, and cutlasses on their belt alongside a laser pistol. The other was nervously fiddling with the hilt of their dagger. At the sight of the Heroes, both jumped.

The bigger one grinned. "Awrgh, finally! C'mere!"

Two of their arms grabbed cutlasses, the other two gestured for the Heroes to bring it on. The smaller skittered for the ship's intercom, on the wall nearby.

Rushing forward and charging my heat to the max I channeled my burning desire for JUSTICE into my plasma launcher, firing off a volley of shots at the thug making it for the comms. This gave the other thug a chance to attack, but cutting off reinforcements was goal numero uno right now.

The smaller thug cursed and ducked, the volley of plasma melting the intercom he was going for. As he rolled out of the way, the bigger one made a grab for Flames. If she was successful, she would throw Flames at Bliss in one smooth motion.

~

IC: Tony Sprocket - With Stormer

Sprocket ducked his head. "Well, um, not much, actually. I heard a commotion and hid out in my room. I'm not really built for dealing with that kind of thing, see. I thought the security team would take care of it..."

Bliss slowed when Flames left the ground, but picked up speed again when he saw the goon burn her hands. When he neared, he began channeling light through his sword and took a heavy wing at the goon's torso.

IC: Jimi Stringer - Starwhale Beatdown

Stringer took careful aim at the thug going for the intercom and played some loud pewpewpew noises out of his gun.

IC: Preston Stormer - Hero Landing Craft

"Alright, well, at least you're safe. So you really didn't see anyone or hear anything? Hang on... the security team, where would we find them?"

0

"It doesn't matter how big your first bite is. It matters how many bites you take." -Mool the Wanderer